1939-45- World War II - Germany occupies much of France. Vichy regime in unoccupied south collaborates with Nazis. General de Gaulle, undersecretary of war, establishes government-in-exile in London and, later, Algiers. Rise of French Resistance.

Liberation

1944 - Allied forces land at Normandy leading to liberation of France. De Gaulle sets up provisional government. Purge against former collaborators.

2002 May - Jacques Chirac re-elected president, trouncing National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the second round of voting. Le Pen's showing in the first round sent shockwaves across France and Europe and galvanised French voters into mass street demonstrations.

Lionel Jospin, the main left-wing presidential contender whom Le Pen knocked out in the first round, resigns the premiership and the Socialist Party leadership.

2002 June - Landslide victory in legislative elections for centre-right UMP. Jean-Pierre Raffarin's centre-right government confirmed in office, marking an end to the "cohabitation" years when Chirac had to work with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

2002 November - Widespread public sector strikes over government privatisation plans bring country to a standstill.

2003 March - Constitution changed to allow devolution to regions and departments of powers over economic development, transport, tourism, culture and further education. Amendments also provide for local referendums, to give people more say in local decisions.

2003 July - Corsica referendum, first to follow March constitutional amendments, narrowly votes against establishment of unified assembly with limited powers to raise and spend taxes. Paris had hoped that a yes vote would end separatist violence.

2005 October-November - Deprived, largely immigrant, communities in north-east Paris are hit by riots after two youths of North African origin are electrocuted in an electricity substation. The authorities deny that they were being chased by police at the time.

2007 November - Civil servants take to the streets, along with workers from the transport and energy sectors, to protest against Mr Sarkozy's planned cuts in pay and jobs, and reform of pension benefits. There is widespread disruption of public services.

2008 February - France formally ratifies Lisbon Treaty on reform of European Union.

Financial crisis

2008 October - European governments pledge up to 1.8 trillion euros as part of co-ordinated plans to shore up their financial sectors, hit hard by the global financial crisis. France says it will inject 10.5bn euros into the country's six largest banks.

2009 June - Government says it will set up a commission to study the extent of burka-wearing in France after President Sarkozy said such garments undermine the dignity of citizens.

2010 March - Ruling UMP suffers heavy defeat in regional elections, losing control of all but one of the 22 regions in mainland France and Corsica.

2010 June - Government announces public spending cuts of 45bn euros in effort to reduce high level of public debt.

2010 August - France begins to dismantle illegal Roma (gypsy) camps and to deport their residents back to Romania and Bulgaria, as part of a package of new security measures.

2010 September - EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding urges the European Commission to take legal action against France over its deportations of the Roma, calling it a "disgrace". The threat of legal action is lifted after France pledges to implement a 2004 EU directive on freedom of movement.

Pension protests

2010 September-October - Hundreds of thousands turn out in several waves of trade union-led protests against government plans to raise retirement age to 62.

2010 November - France concludes military and nuclear accord with UK. Under the terms of the new treaty, the two countries will cooperate in testing nuclear warheads.

2011 March - France plays prominent role in imposing and enforcing no-fly zone over Libya.

2011 April - Face veil ban comes into force.

2011 May - French political establishment is shaken by arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who had been tipped as a strong Socialist candidate for the presidency, in New York on sexual assault charges that were later dropped.

2011 August - Government announces package of austerity measures aimed at reducing public deficit by 12bn euros over two years. In November it announces a further 7bn euros of cuts in 2012 and 11.6bn euros in 2013.

2011 September - Credit rating agency Moody's downgrades the two biggest French banks, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale, because of concerns over their exposure to Greek debt. Credit Agricole later announces a cut of 2,350 jobs worldwide.

2011 October - Francois Hollande chosen as Socialist presidential candidate after a novel primary campaign that attracted more than two million voters.

2011 November - Prime Minister Francois Fillon leads politicians and religious leaders in condemning a petrol-bomb attack by Islamic extremists that destoryed the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo after it had named the Muslim Prophet Muhammad as a "guest editor".

2011 December - Former President Jacques Chirac receives a suspended jail sentence for diverting public funds and abusing public trust during his term as mayor of Paris.

2012 January - France loses its top AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's along with Spain and Italy.

The Senate approves a bill making it a crime to deny genocide was committed by Ottoman Turks against Armenians during World War I. President Sarkozy is expected to sign it into law by the end of February. Turkey threatens retaliatory measures.

2012 March - French Islamist Mohamed Merah shoots dead seven people, including three Jewish schoolchildren, in Toulouse. He is shot dead in a police siege of his flat. France bans militant Islamist preachers from entering the country, beginning with the Qatari-based Egyptian Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

2012 May - Francois Hollande wins presidential election.

French police detain the last military leader of the Basque separatist group Eta, Oroitz Gurruchaga Gogorza, and his deputy Xabier Aramburu in a joint operation with Spain.

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